The Chongxia Village of Taiba Town, Shanghang County is a SHE-Minority settlement. The construction project is carried out based on three main nodes in the village, namely the surroundings of the Village Neighborhood Committee, the front of the Happiness Courtyard and the surroundings of the entrance to the village. Our task is to carry on the local traditional culture and reveal the village’s beauty by fully exploring the SHE-Minority village’s culture under the preconditions of low management and maintenance costs and economical practicality. Therefore, while trying to improve the site’s environment with the highest respect, we have absorbed the cultural essence of SHE-Minority to pass on the local history and awaken the local people’s self-identity. Besides, we have emphasized how design can play an active role in the inheritance of the minority culture while the modern civilization has brought us a convenient life.
Objects (or symbols) of modernity and nationality are displayed together in our attempt to explore the impacts of the modern civilization on the ethnic minority: while bringing convenience, the modern civilization has also been wiping out the national character gradually. We aim to awaken the long-sleeping sense of national identity and reflect on the relationships between “Han people’s influence” and the ethnic minority’s character, between locality and globalization.
To carry on the local traditional culture and show the village’s beauty by fully exploring the SHE-Minority village’s culture under the preconditions of low management and maintenance costs and economical practicality.
1. The node of the Village Neighborhood Committee
It used to be Chongxia Primary School, which has become an idle and empty school after the young people of the village have left the village to work in other cities. Based on the history of the school, we have preserved and renovated the gate of the school and the inscription of the school’s name “Chongxia Primary School”. Near the enclosure wall of the Village Neighborhood Committee, we have set up an exhibition corridor, where the cabinets show the village’s Party building culture publicity materials on a regular basis. A landscape wall of old objects has been set up in front of the grave of revolutionary martyrs. Cobblestones are paved in the shade of existing trees, while stone tables and chairs have been set up, for the convenience of the villagers’ outdoor activities.
2. The node of the Happiness Courtyard
The square in front of the courtyard has been hardened and set up children’s activities and outdoor fitness equipment. Under the precondition of preserving the existing ground pavement, the design has optimized the existing functional zones. An outdoor corridor has been set up in the square in front of the Happiness Courtyard, which is named as Happiness and Longevity Corridor and can be used as a shelter from wind and rain and a place for drinking tea and chatting. The internal walls show the costumes of SHE-Minority people and their farming tools. The functions of the children’s playground and fitness area have been carried on. Two display walls of old objects have been set up at the entrance to the square, forming a window of folk customs culture and serving as an outdoor popular science corridor to keep the folk art memory.
3. The node of the entrance to the village and the other end of a bridge
Based on the existing landscape pavilion at the entrance to the village, a symbol of the village has been set up at the existing slope. The village’s symbol is designed based on the SHE-Minority people’s totem of phoenix, while including the daily farm implement of winnowing basket, which has become an important sign at the entrance to the village. On the other end of the bridge, a resting place has been set up with cobblestones and big trees.
By applying the totem of SHE-Minority people and showing their costumes, the project has not only carried on the local traditional culture, but also awakened the understanding of the national tradition among the local villagers of SHE-Minority that have been seriously influenced by the Han people’s culture and their self-identity awareness. During the Spring Festival, the villagers would hang lanterns with the character “SHE” at public areas. In front of the village’s symbol, the adults would tell their kids, this is their national totem. All of these are the initial results from the design.
Location: Chongxia Village, Taiba Town, Shanghang County, Longyan, Fujian Province,China
Design year:2022
Year Completed:2023
